Snitched
by WeatherWatch
Summary: It was never to be Hermione who realised the full potential of WizardNet. That was left to an old schoolmate who was quick to understand what Kids-These-Days were looking for, and how Celebrities are never the only ones to benefit from fame.


**Disclaimer: JK owns all the Harry Potterness, and the idea for Snitched came from the ladies at Kickette – a football blog for 'those who love the players as much as they love the game'. What champions.**

"**Snitched****"**

When Hermione had first announced to the Department of Magical and Muggle Cooperation that she had great plans to create a technology for wizards that acted like a muggle computer and would be linked to a magical version of the internet, there had been a lot of initial praise and the design process had been undertaken by a number of ex-Ravenclaws under the guidance of Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin, First Class.

After almost three years, the specially devised 'computers' were ready for sale and the newly formed WizardNet was to be officially opened by Minister Shacklebolt at a gala for the aforementioned Department of Magical and Muggle Cooperation. It was an unrivalled success.

A year after that, the new technology could be found in the majority of Wizarding homes, and those that didn't have private access could find stations in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, or any other frequently attended Wizarding township.

Hermione Granger, the gossips said, had always been destined to do great things, and bringing about unprecedented changes was not the least of it. However, as important a role Hermione played in the setting up of WizardNet, it was never to be her who realised its full potential. That was left to an old schoolmate and her friends, who were quick to understand what Kids-These-Days were looking for, and how Celebrities are never the only ones to benefit from fame.

OoO

_Snitched Head Quarters, shop 143B Diagon Alley_

Lavender had grown accustomed to living above the hustle and bustle of a shop, having bought the one bedroom space for a very decent price after the war, and the sounds from below had become a comfort to her over the years when silence was a veritable hell that allowed her too easily to fall back into memories.

The small apartment was quaint these days, and like many places had a magically powered portable computer set up on the desk by the window. It was pink, and there was a sticker of a baby niffler on the hood that she'd quite fancied as adorable when first having fixed it there, but now considered a little tacky. But that was unimportant.

In her school years, Lavender hadn't bothered in the least to hide the fact that appreciated a good-looking male, and Quidditch players were right up her alley. So, too, were rock stars and authors and actors, but, really, Quidditch had always been where it was at – so to speak. Her adamant belief in this was what gave her the inspiration for her to come up with the idea.

WizardNet had many functions, one of which was something Hermione had advertised as a blog – an online journal that could house writing, pictures, and could be viewed by anyone who found it on WizardNet (and she knew for a fact that there were a lot of kids lurking around on the WizardNet, looking for things to occupy their time). Lavender had known it was the jackpot as soon as she'd made the decision to join up to BlogMagic.

And that was how Snitched was born.

OoO

_Griffin's Roost, Home of Mr and Mrs R. B. Weasley and family_

Exactly how Rose Helena Weasley had become best friends with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was generally put down to the fact that they were both sorted into Ravenclaw by the Sorting Hat in their first year, but in reality it was attributable to the blatant disregard of their respective parents' advice.

When Ron had told his daughter to make sure she beat the Malfoy spawn in all her classes and not hang around with him, Draco had similarly informed his son that, like mother like daughter, Rose would no doubt be a know-it-all swot and Scorpius should try his hardest to not let her win any academic conflicts between them; naturally, in a show of childish defiance, the two had immediately set themselves up in one of the carriages of the Hogwarts Express and had become fast friends within the first twenty minutes of the journey.

True to form, Ron had blown a gasket in a fit of rage; Hermione had cuffed him around the head, sent her fear-inducing canaries at his face to scare him into docility and scolded him fiercely before telling him that the war was over, and so too should be petty schoolyard grudges. Hermione sent a letter of truce to Draco Malfoy – which was accepted for the children's sake – but what helped most was that after three years of friendship Scorpius was not looking like a threat to Rosie at all in Ron's eyes (although Albus Severus' had a proverbial target painted on his back), so the two Ravenclaws were given express permission by Rose's overprotective father that their socialising was alright by him. Not that they'd ever had consideration for that before, but it was the thought that counted.

So it was that Rose and Scorpius were currently ensconced in Rose's bedroom, in all its Quidditch fan-girl glory, with her computer set up on her bed so they could comfortably peruse the BlogMagic site, Snitched.

Unsurprisingly, it had been Rose who'd uncovered the site. She was an avid Quidditch fan – the sport ran in her family after all – but it wasn't just the game she loved: it was the glamour, the players and the gossip. Scorpius was much the same, though he didn't play as she did. He much preferred to observe the rippling muscles and handsome faces of the most famous of wizards in the League from his family's box, the Potter-Weasley box, or on WizardNet.

"Scor, go back up!" Rose said suddenly, hitting his arm lightly with the back of her hand. "That one's about Pucey – you know I love him!"

"No kidding?" Scorpius retorted, pointing at the posters that covered walls, about half of which were of Pucey.

"Hey, lay off; as if you don't have more of Rotherham." Rose replied laughingly, nudging him with her foot.

They were scouting Snitched, like they usually did on Saturdays, and it seemed to be filled with juicy updates this particular day. The article that Rose was so desperate to read was about the Kenmare Kestrel Chaser, Adrian Pucey. It was titled 'The Friday Fancy' and there was a wizarding photograph of the handsome player at some Quidditch function or other, dressed to impress in startling black robes with a deep red undershirt.

"He is so hot." Rose stated, practically drooling over the brown haired man. "Oh, look it says he's broken up with that new girlfriend of his, too."

"Quick, Rose. Better send in an application: 'desperate fan-girl seeks Quidditch star boyfriend'."

Scorpius smirked, and scrolled down the page after Rose had scanned the short article for appearance's sake (it was clear she was more interested in the picture, which winked saucily at the camera and smiled).

"Oh look, Al's mum is in here again. Lils too."

The picture was a paparazzi shot of Lily and Ginny shopping in Diagon Alley, and there was a short note about how adorable and like her mother Lily-Luna Potter was turning out to be , with links to articles on Ginny's Holyhead Harpies days and to one on the whole Potter family. Scorpius clicked it.

"Aha! Look at Al, Rose." He pointed at the picture, where a thirteen-year old Albus was making a face against the window. Apparently, he'd been the only one to notice the photographer. "He's such a dork sometimes." Scorpius commented fondly.

"Yeah, yeah, you're in love with Al, move on." Rose said by way of answer, and took control of the computer herself, scrolling down further to see what else was on the site since they'd last looked.

"I'm not in-"

Rose raised an eyebrow knowingly, and effectively cut Scorpius' argument short. He huffed in defeat.

OoO

_Snitched Head Quarters, shop 143B Diagon Alley_

"Parv, a follower's sent in some images of Rotherham off his face in London, and you'll never guess who he was with." Lavender almost sang her news. "Peakes!"

"No!"

"Oh, hells yeah. He's breaking down club rivalries one party at a time." Lavender told her friend. "Check out the pictures."

The images she distributed were from the night before, and showed both men enjoying themselves at a club in Wizarding London. Riot Rotherham was an Australian player, scouted out of Wollongong for the Professional English League when he was just sixteen, and he was a lucky enough to have looks and the foreign accent pull off his partying ways without too much remonstration from the public. He was currently on loan from Tutshill Tornadoes to the Appleby Arrows.

The second figure in the pictures was Jimmy Peakes. He'd been a couple of years younger than Lavender and Parvati at Hogwarts, and was very much a young blood of the game, tending to be given the press releases and things that the older players didn't really want to do.

What the two entrepreneurial journalists had considered so strange about the pairing of the two men was that Wimbourne Wasps were the traditional rivals of the Appleby Arrows, so at all events, the most popular players of each team partying it up in a London club was rather an unusual sight – which meant that the MagicBlog site was going to get plenty of hits.

"Oh Merlin, did you see these last two?" Parvati asked, shoving them under Lavender's nose to look.

The first showed Riot Rotherham staggering out of the club, farewelling a bunch of girls in very short dresses as Jimmy, partially obstructed by a buxom blonde woman, pulled him away. Everyone was laughing uproariously at something; no doubt the hilarity was fuelled by alcohol. The second image, however, was slightly more interesting: Jimmy didn't appear to have returned home, because there was a picture of him leaving Rotherham's bachelor pad the next morning in last night's clothes – although he had cleaned and changed the colour of the shirt.

"Well, well, well. That'll get tongues wagging." Lavender said with a smirk. "Put them up. I've got some things too."

OoO

_Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire_

"Hi, Mister Malfoy." Rose called out with a wave as they passed Draco's study. The blond man only barely glimpsed them tearing past when he looked up from his work, but he murmured an appropriate reply as the two inseparables made their way to Scorpius quarters.

"Did you see that picture of Colin Finchwhistle on Snitched?" Rose asked conversationally when they'd plonked themselves on his huge bed and gotten comfortable. "I think my ovaries burst. His kids are the cutest things ever."

"His kids? What about him? He's the League nice guy, he's Irish and he's gorgeous. I wish I was his wife." Scorpius answered with a hearty sigh. "Makes me want to support the Kestrels."

"You're dad would kill you if you went to the Kestrels." Rose pointed out helpfully, rolling over to look at her friend's posters. "Besides you love your darling Falcons too much to abandon them."

"True." He conceded resignedly as Rose suddenly climbed off the bed.

"Hey, when did you get this signed?"

She tapped the large Falmouth Falcon jersey that hung, in pride of place, in the centre of the wall. The scrawled signature read 'To Scorpius, keep your friends closer – Marcus Flint'.

"Erm. It was the game before last. Dad played under him at school, apparently. He's pretty cool. Dangerous, even." Scorpius cocked his head to the side in thought. "I'm not sure what he means by it, but it's pretty awesome, anyhow."

Rose stroked the fabric reverently. "That is so not fair. He won the Golden Quaffle three years in a row."

"He's huge." Scorpius informed her. "Like, massive. And scary looking – with those teeth. But he's kind of hot, too, you know?"

"Not really." Rose looked unconvinced, and went back to sit on the bed, flipping open her best friends computer to scout the latest news on Snitched, because they had nothing better to do until Draco fetched them to go to the afternoon match between Falcons and the Montrose Magpies. The parents took turns taking the kids to games, but Rose was fairly certain she'd be seeing her mum there in some capacity anyway because Viktor Krum still played, and was currently posted with the Magpies and, whenever he could get them, he'd send her free tickets and she'd sit with his fiancée and keep her company.

It was one of the things Rose was most envious of in her mother. Snaring a world famous Quidditch player at fourteen was something she'd always dreamed of, but never banked on because they just didn't make them like they used to and she rather thought that all the Quidditch-playing wizards she knew were wankers anyway.

"Merlins Balls. Look at the first one, Scor!" Rose barked out, laughing as she saw the first article. "There are pictures too."

Scorpius practically dove onto the bed to see what she was talking about with such a gleeful expression on her features, and when he did see the goofy and hopeful look that washed over him was enough to make Rose laugh properly.

"You sap." She said with amusement and poked him in the ribs. "Neither of them has said anything about preferring men; it's more likely they were both too wasted to go anywhere else."

"Must you ruin my dreams, Rose?" Scorpius asked with a pitiful look in his red headed friend's direction. "I was thinking how Riot and I could get married and live here in the manor, and go skinny-dipping and have picnics and what not."

"And how you'd spend hours shagging like kneazles?" She added archly. She knew him too well to overlook that.

Scorpius made a face at her and nabbed the computer to keep scrolling down the various articles. Pausing, he grinned. "Would you look at that?"

He pointed to the screen, where an image of Chaser Katie Bell, the Holyhead Harpies current leading scorer graced the page. She was sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant with one of her old girlfriends and teammates from school the accompanying article explained. On her wedding ring finger was an obscenely huge diamond ring, with small emeralds that seemed to glow from within nestled on either side.

"NO- no way!" Rose almost screamed, but muffled her voice quickly so as not to disturb Mister Malfoy in his study.

"Way." Scorpius cackled. "Pucey's finally gotten her to succumb."

Adrian Pucey had apparently been chasing Bell since his school days – according to Mister Malfoy, though Mrs Hermione Weasley murmured that she'd also had suspicions – but he was renowned for being a bit of a ladies' man, so Bell had never taken him seriously. It seemed that his persistence had paid off however, because there was also a small note from her agent that confirmed the engagement: '_Katie is pleased to announce her engagement to Adrian Pucey, of the Kenmare Kestrels, who proposed after their most recent match on the front step of her home, standing in the rain and declaring his undying love. They are both very happy, but would like to disclaim any rumours that Katie is pregnant.'_

"That's so romantic." Scorpius breathed after reading it and Rose nodded in agreement.

"They're both psychos on the pitch though…Didn't the Harpies win that match?" She asked, trying to recall.

"Yeah – Bell equalled the Harpies record for most points scored in a match. She was probably so stoked about that that she didn't realise she'd agreed to marry the blo-"

"Bell?" Draco interrupted from the doorway, leaning lightly against the frame. Scorpius and Rose tore their gazes from the computer. "She's accepted him finally then?"

"Yes sir." The blond boy responded, closing down WizardNet and shutting off the computer.

"Well, Theo owes me twenty galleons." Draco noted happily – he'd made the bet with his old schoolmate in second year that Bell would eventually give in to the Slytherin Chaser, and he'd had enough foresight not to put a time limit to it.

"Is it time to go already." Rose asked politely, sitting up to face her friend's father. The older man nodded curtly, but gave a small smile to his preferred ginger visitor.

"It is indeed. And bring your coats; it's cold out."

OoO

_Top Box, Falmouth Stadium_

"He is one fine piece of man-flesh." Scorpius told Rose when his father had vanished to find them drinks. He was pointing at Riot Rotherham who, as per his routine, had come to circle the pitch a couple of times, two of the chasers following to pass a Quaffle around and warm up (or rev up) the crowd. The Arrows weren't really expected to win this game, but stranger things had happened than the Falmouth Falcons losing to Appleby Arrows (though the home team surely had an advantage and thus this wouldn't be a problem).

"He's coming this way again." The young blond hissed as Rose turned to look across the crowd with her omnoculars. He elbowed her in the ribs for good measure.

"Ow. Scor!"

"Look!" He implored, and directed Rose to look at Rotherham who was tearing towards their box with a grin of unrestrained glee. That was a man who loved his job.

A trainer was floating near the posts and was throwing small golf-sized balls in quick succession for Rotherham to catch, and he didn't miss, apart from the trick double shot that the trainer threw in for kicks before heading into the change room and leaving the star to gear up for the game.

He hovered around for a bit, looking serious now as he prepared himself for the game ahead right in front of the two teenaged fans. Scorpius was staring rather blatantly at the current Love-of-his-Life, though Rose was trying to act nonchalant before the sports star.

"He's so fit." Scorpius breathed adoringly.

Rotherham glanced up from his internal preparations and glanced into the box, almost as if he'd heard the admiration of his body. He held Scorpius' eye for a second, then smirked and winked before heading into a dive, executing a Wronski Feint, and vanishing into the change rooms.

It was enough to drive the hormonal, obsessive teenage boy into hysterics.

"OHHOLYMOTHEROFMERLIN! I can die happy now. We can get married and hobnob and live the life of the rich and famous!" He ranted, clutching at Rose. "HE JUST WINKED AT ME. RIOT BLOODY ROTHERHAM JUST WINKED AT ME. AT ME! HE _WINKED_ AT ME!"

"Yeah! I saw." She yelled back, shaking his shoulders, though she wasn't honestly matching his excitement. "Relax, Scor. Be cool."

"Right, be cool." He righted himself in his chair, and breathed deeply, but gazed back at his friend after a moment with a buoyant expression.

"Riot Rotherham just winked at me." He said seriously. "I think my life is complete."

Draco appeared at that instant, handing over some butterbeers. "Why is your life complete?"

The two children shared a conspiratorial glance and smirked with lowered faces.

"No reason, Father. Just, you know, being here with two of favourite people, watching my team play another team with a fantastic seeker and all that." Scorpius answered vaguely. Rose snickered.

**End.**


End file.
